I am currently a postdoctoral research assistant in the Aime Lab at Purdue University. I study coffee leaf rust population genetics to track the movement of Hemileia vastatrix across the globe and I am also interested in determining the alternate host of this rust.

​I was born and raised in Costa Rica and have always been interested in science and nature. I got my bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica in 2015. For my undergraduate thesis work, I spent 3 months in the United States working under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Porras-Alfaro and learning about fungi in her lab. I conducted researched about heavy metal tolerant soil fungi . Most importantly, during this time, I ended up falling in love with research and fungi.

This led me to join the Porras-Alfaro lab and receive a M.Sc. in Biology in 2016 from Western Illinois University. My thesis focused on the description of a novel genus and species in the Mucoromycotina (Bifiguratus adelaidae); a taxon that had been abundantly found in environmental sequencing, yet no cultures were known, and was designated as one of the “top 50 most wanted fungi”.

During 2017, I worked as a field technician for the US Geological Survey in Moab, Utah focusing in the effects of drought and increasing temperatures on biological soil crusts; among several other projects under the supervision of Dr. Sasha Reed.

I did my PhD in Plant Pathology with a dual title in Biogeochemistry in the lab of Dr. David M Geiser at The Pennsylvania State University between 2018–2023. My dissertation project focused on a novel Fusarium species that produces a pseudoflower on yellow-eyed grasses endemic to northern South America. My work aimed to describe the plant-fungal interaction in this system and how fungal presence may be involved in the attraction of insects that potentially aid its dispersal.

Besides research and field work, I enjoy being involved in student organizations, mentoring students, volunteering in the community, and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. I am a past chair of the Mycological Society of America Student Section, delegate for the Penn State Graduate and Professional Student Association, past president of the Penn State Plant Pathology Student Association, and currently chair the Mycological Society of America SPORES Program.